I've been working on a map for my Doll race idea. Someone once said that the greatest muse is annoyance, and I was inspired by everything I hate and love about the movie 9. For those who don't remember that movie (I don't blame you), it was a really well animated movie about these small sentient sackcloth dolls that were running away from some super evil machine or something. Yeah the plot doesn't work at all. But a story about toys surviving an apocalypse and building their own civilization in a giant ruined cityscape in the midst of unimaginable horrors and nightmarish situations? Yes, please! Do want! So I figured why not make my own setting? Well the problem is that most RPG's I can think of are combative in nature. Are there any that are more like Don't Starve where you're basically making stuff and just trying not to die of starvation or the elements?

You might like Golden Sky Stories, maybe. It's actually really cutesy and not really based on "Survival" at all but non-combat is definitely the thing. It has some interesting mechanics and I used them to play a one-shot about ninjas, once.

I'm not aware of too many games that embrace this approach, but I think part of the issue is that it's hard to totally preclude violence or combat while also granting players freedom to control their characters as they wish.

A game I've long wanted to have a crack at playing, Nobilis, apparently very much discourages combat.

sparkletwist

You might like Golden Sky Stories, maybe. It's actually really cutesy and not really based on "Survival" at all but non-combat is definitely the thing. It has some interesting mechanics and I used them to play a one-shot about ninjas, once.

I checked this out, and I like it. It's not quite what I'm looking for, but it's simplistic approach is definitely something that I'm looking for. It doesn't make it very clear how to homebrew stuff for it.

Steerpike

I'm not aware of too many games that embrace this approach, but I think part of the issue is that it's hard to totally preclude violence or combat while also granting players freedom to control their characters as they wish.

A game I've long wanted to have a crack at playing, Nobilis, apparently very much discourages combat.

I think I should clarify. I'm looking for something like Call of Cthulhu. You CAN fight, but you won't win. Fighting a Lovecraftian horror is you lose. But I am looking for something that emphasizes negotiation and crafting.

I might recommend Pelgrane Press's Fear Itself - "Fear Itself plunges ordinary people into a disturbing contemporary world of madness and violence —and inexorably draws them into confrontation with creatures of the Outer Dark, a realm of alien menace. GMs can re-create all the shudders and shocks of the horror genre at their table, whether they use the game’s distinctive mythology or one of their own choosing."

It's part of a sort of family of roleplaying games they put out, but most of them are about highly trained monster-hunters or occult spies, and Fear Itself is about normals. It's billed as a game suited to a style where most protagonists have a high likelihood of dying. It can support campaigns, though, it's not just for one-shots.

Steerpike

Oh gotcha.

I might recommend Pelgrane Press's Fear Itself - "Fear Itself plunges ordinary people into a disturbing contemporary world of madness and violence —and inexorably draws them into confrontation with creatures of the Outer Dark, a realm of alien menace. GMs can re-create all the shudders and shocks of the horror genre at their table, whether they use the game’s distinctive mythology or one of their own choosing."

It's part of a sort of family of roleplaying games they put out, but most of them are about highly trained monster-hunters or occult spies, and Fear Itself is about normals. It's billed as a game suited to a style where most protagonists have a high likelihood of dying. It can support campaigns, though, it's not just for one-shots.

I checked it out. It looks almost exactly what I'm looking for. I just want a robust crafting system to tack onto this, and it would be perfect for what I have in mind.